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Théodore Géricault

Compositional Study? (possibly for "Poussin’s Deluge") (verso)

c. 1816
brown wash and black crayon

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In the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland · as of July 2026

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FROM THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART’S CATALOG

Géricault's drawing of a man clutching the mane of a horse as they struggle together to stay afloat is a direct copy of a detail from one of Nicolas Poussin's (1594-1665) most celebrated paintings, The Deluge, or Winter (see photo). Small in scale but monumental in feeling, the sheet exemplifies the artist's "antique manner" of drawing, which he began to develop around 1815. This style, with its heavy contour lines and broad washes, developed in tandem with Géricault's renewed interest in copying works of art from the past, such as prints after ancient sculpture and works by Raphael (1483-1520), Michelangelo (1475-1564), and Poussin.

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